Bishop Lillibridge

Gary Richard Lillibridge was elected Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of West Texas on October 11, 2003. He was consecrated a bishop on February 21, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas, and was invested as the ninth bishop of the diocese on February 23, 2006, in San Antonio.

Bishop Lillibridge was born on May 2, 1956. A lifelong Episcopalian, he was raised in San Antonio. He received his undergraduate degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) in San Marcos, Texas, in 1978 and received his Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1982.

Upon ordination as a deacon in 1982, he began serving as assistant rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he was ordained priest in January of 1983. He also has served as rector of St. James, Del Rio; Church of the Advent and St. Paul’s in Brownsville; and was serving as rector of St. David’s in San Antonio when he was elected bishop coadjutor. He also served four years as the Archdeacon of the Diocese of West Texas, from 1995 to 1998.

Bishop Lillibridge is married to Catherine (DeForrest), who is a CPA by training and who is currently serving as Director of Lay Ministries and Outreach in a parish setting. They have three teenage children – two girls and a boy – and enjoy a variety of family vacations and travel. He is involved in his children’s activities, having coached baseball, basketball, and football in their youth leagues.

As a priest, he has served as deputy to General Convention, President of the Diocesan Standing Committee, member of the Executive Board, member of the Commission on Ministry, and a host of other committees and commissions. His community service activities include having served on the Board of Directors for the Brownsville Society for Crippled Children and on the Board of Morningside Ministries and the Good Samaritan Center, both located in San Antonio.